NO DEFENSE: Raymond Felton and Pablo Prigioni slap hands after passing to J.R. Smith for a dunk in last night’s victory against the Wizards at the Garden. Photo: Getty Images
December is upon us. The NBA season is one month old and there is much promise ahead for the Knicks and Nets.
It’s about time.
For the first time in years, New York fans have so much to look forward to, even though the streets of the city will be covered in slush before long. These are the days Knicks and Nets fans have longed for as their teams will look to warm their hearts in the cold of winter.
The Knicks whacked the woeful Wizards 108-87 last night at the Garden to move to 11-4 on the season and 6-0 at home. The Knicks last won 11 games in November back in the 1972-73 season. In Orlando, the Nets beat the Magic 98-86 to equal that 11-4 record. This marked the first time in Nets franchise history they managed to win 11 games in November.
It gets better. The Knicks and Nets, according to Elias Sports Bureau, have never both started the same season with at least 11 wins in their first 15 games. Never. In fact, the Nets have never had 11-plus wins in their first 15 games of a season in their NBA history.
“That’s a big month for us,’’ Carmelo Anthony said after scoring 20 points in 27 easy minutes. “My goal and our goal was to at least get 10 wins this month. We did that. That’s big.’’
The Jets, meanwhile, are a circus. The Giants look like they are on their way to another Super Bowl. The Mets are coming off another difficult season but at least have re-signed David Wright, while the Yankees, who couldn’t hit a lick in the postseason, are counting their pennies, which has cost them their catcher.
The Knicks and Nets have a lane to the hoop to make the most of their success in winning over the hearts of fans while winning the back page, too.
As Crazy Earl proclaimed in “Full Metal Jacket” — the Stanley Kubrick’s classic — “These are great days we’re living, bros.’’
Anthony is carrying the Knicks and has shown tremendous maturity. He has hit the age where winning is the most important thing — and sure, he still wants to be that player who hits the winning shot, but that’s a plus, not a minus.
He will grow from the experience of missing that 16-footer in Brooklyn — yet another valuable lesson.
The Knicks are taking care of business against the bad teams, something they didn’t do last year.
Noted Anthony, “This year our focus is to beat the teams we are supposed to beat and go on the road and win at least 50 percent of our road games and see where we’re at — at the end.’’
The Knicks are wisely leaning on Tyson Chandler (12 points) more on offense. Over his past three games, he has hit 21 of 25 shots. His confidence is growing. And Amar’e Stoudemire will be back soon.
You can gripe that the Knicks take too many 3-point shots, but that’s life in the NBA now, as coach Mike Woodson has pointed out a number of times.
Sure, there are dangers ahead. The Knicks’ aging players are an issue. Jason Kidd has to be healthy. If his back issues linger, the Knicks will run into a wall. As for the Nets, Brook Lopez’s foot injuries are a major concern.
Both the Knicks and Nets are taking care of business at home. That success energizes the fan base.
There is so much to look forward to on the upcoming schedule. The Knicks will play the Lakers twice this month, including Christmas Day in L.A. The Nets will have their own Christmas Day treat for the fans when the Celtics, who acted like punks on Wednesday night, led by their hot-headed point guard Rajon Rondo, get a Merry Christmas welcome in Brooklyn at noon.
You can escape your in-laws if you want on the 25th and plant yourself in front of the flat screen all day long.
Basketball life is good.